quote:Firefighters vote to boycott Bush Sept. 11 tribute
By Steve Friess, Reuters
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - The International Association of Fire Fighters voted unanimously on Wednesday to boycott a national tribute to firefighters who died on Sept. 11, in an angry response to U.S. President George Bush's rejection of a bill that included $340 million to fund fire departments.
Bush is expected to speak at the Oct. 6 ceremony in Washington D.C., where the National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation is hosting its annual tribute to those who died in the line of duty during the prior year.
The ceremony will honor 343 firefighters who died responding to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, as well as about 100 others who also died in the year.
The IAFF, the umbrella organization for the nation's professional firefighter unions, is enraged by the president's rejection of a $5.1 billion appropriations bill that included $150 million for equipment and training grants requested by some of the nation's 18,000 fire departments.
It also include $100 million to improve the communications systems for firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel as well as $90 million for long-term health monitoring of emergency workers at the Ground Zero site where New York's World Trade Center towers once stood.
Firefighters and survivors will be urged to skip the Oct. 6 event in protest, said R. Michael Mohler of the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters Local 774.
Mohler made the boycott motion before about 2,000 union leaders convening in Las Vegas for the IAFF's first national conference since Sept. 11.
"The president has merely been using firefighters and their families for one big photo opportunity," Mohler said. "We will work actively to not grant him another photo op with us."
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
But what was the rider attached to the bill? It doesn't seem to me these days that bills themselvves are vetoed as much as th extraneously stupid riders that are tacked onto them, & then the only way to cancel out stupid riders is to veto the entire bill.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
I idea it seems is that this was an emergency spending bill and apparently both the Congress and the Executive must agree that there is an emergency use for the funds in order for them to be spent.
It seems Bush has the ability as Executive, even after the bill has been passed and apparently signed, to say that use of the funds is not an emergency and he will not spend them.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Damn. When I saw the thread title I had this mental image of a bunch of firemen seeing Bush on fire but just shrugging and saying "Heck with it, let'im burn." 8)
quote:Originally posted by Jay the Obscure: It seems Bush has the ability as Executive, even after the bill has been passed and apparently signed, to say that use of the funds is not an emergency and he will not spend them.
the president has the ability to veto any bill that comes before him, you know. if congress wants to, they can overrule him with the proper vote. like Shik, i would also like to see what kind of pork was attached to the bill. i'm sure there was something.
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posted
The bill was signed. As such it is passed the time for a presidential veto.
Among the provisions of the bill:
-$90 million for long-term health monitoring of emergency workers at Ground Zero.
-$200 million for AIDS prevention
-$250 million that was to be divided between security aid for Israel and disaster assistance for Palestinians.
-$100 million to improve the communications systems of firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel nationwide. Radio problems hindered rescue workers' response to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 because the various agencies' radios could not communicate with each other.
-$39 million to improve and increase inspections of the 6 million cargo containers entering the country each year.
-$82 million to enhance the FBI's counterterrorism technology.
-$165 million to strengthen security around food and water supplies.
-$400 million for election reform.
-$50 million for flood prevention.
-$98 million for emergency highway repairs in 18 states, including repair of the Interstate 40 bridge recently destroyed in Oklahoma.
-$17.9 million for Wisconsin's effort to combat chronic wasting disease.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
quote:Originally posted by Jay the Obscure: -$250 million that was to be divided between security aid for Israel and disaster assistance for Palestinians.
-$400 million for election reform.
-$50 million for flood prevention.
-$17.9 million for Wisconsin's effort to combat chronic wasting disease.
-$275 million for veterans' medical care.
Any or all of these are your potential porkers. Some, like the veteran medical care & the flood prevention, are minor. Election reform & Israelo-Palestinian aids are major hot buttons. "Chronic wasting disease" sounds like what happens when the fratboys don't finish the roaches.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
I think that's what California did to include the line-item veto with other powers that the governor has.
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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posted
Didn't they somehow give the president that power back when Clinton was in office? I remember it being on the news and such...
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Ah. Nevermind. Congress did give him the power, but, since they didn't do it via an amendment, the Supreme Court took it away a couple years later.
Registered: Mar 1999
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EdipisReks
Ex-Member
posted
congress couldn't have made it an amendment, anyway.
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posted
Congress did not give the executive a line item veto. This bill was already signed into law by the president in total.
Apparently now he has the discretion to declare the spending not to be "emergency" as the bill said. In doing so he does not have to spend the money.
According the N.Y. Times:
quote:To resolve a conflict between the administration and Congress over spending levels, lawmakers made a list of $5.1 billion in projects contingent on Mr. Bush's declaring them emergency spending in 30 days.
To maintain pressure, Congress said that Mr. Bush would have to accept all or none of the projects, that he could not pick and choose among ones he supported and those he did not.
Other areas of spending according to the article included:
quote:$600 million for the National Guard and Reserves, $273 million for the Coast Guard, $165 million for the F.B.I., $25 million to equip military aircraft with radios to communicate with civilian jets and $50 million for equipment to ensure that emergency agencies can communicate, a problem on Sept. 11
posted
The firefighters have apparently changed their minds:
quote:August 16, 2002 Firefighters Won't Boycott Memorial By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:50 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The International Association of Fire Fighters plans to challenge President Bush's decision to withhold money that would help fire departments, but will not boycott the annual memorial service for fallen firefighters, the union's president said Friday.
``We would never ever boycott any of the memorials that are going to honor my members,'' general president Harold Schaitberger said by phone after the union convention adjourned Friday. ``There is nothing this union will do to bring any kind of dishonor or disrespect to the events that are going to be a celebration of their service and sacrifice.''
The union voted during its Las Vegas assembly to ask Schaitberger to formally protest Bush's decision to withhold $5.1 billion in anti-terrorism funds. The options included boycotting the annual service in memory of fallen firefighters, scheduled for Oct. 6 in Washington. Bush has been invited to speak at the event.
Schaitberger rejected any thoughts of staying away from the ceremony. In New York, 343 firefighters lost their lives when terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center Sept. 11.
Bush said Friday he had a strong commitment to firefighters, but needed to cut federal spending.
``I chose not to spend the $5 billion because, one, we didn't need to and, two, it is important for this country to be fiscally disciplined as our economy begins to recover,'' Bush said.
The withheld funds included $100 million for improvements to communications systems for firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel. Rescue workers' efforts at the World Trade Center were hindered because the agencies' radios could not communicate with each other.
Bush also blocked $90 million for long-term health monitoring of emergency workers at Ground Zero and $150 million for equipment and training grants to fire departments.
Schaitberger said the union planned to push Congress to include the money in the spending bills for the federal fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
He said he planned to write a letter of protest to Bush, and would return the videotaped message Bush sent to the firefighters. ``We will find the appropriate venue to vent our anger and show our protest,'' Schaitberger said.
The union, which represents 255,000 firefighters, has given almost $2 million to federal candidates since Jan. 1, 1999, with more than 80 percent going to Democrats.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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